Ch. 5 - Politics and Science

Content advisory: this episode makes mention of the sexual assault and murder of a child. Please take care if listening. In this special update episode of Admissible, Tessa Kramer returns to the mic to explore the aftermath of our 12-part series. Our investigation exposed the Vir ... Show More

As we come to the end of season one, reporter Tessa Kramer is left with some lingering questions. How are the injustices we've seen in this story woven into the DNA of our criminal legal system? Is there hope for genuine reform? And what role can forensics play? More information ... Show More

The final episode of our first season is coming soon, but first: a message from Tessa on the arrest of her friend, Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter who is wrongfully detained in Russia. For more information, visit www.freegershkovich.com. 

Major forensics failures in a government-run laboratory seriously compromised the police investigation into Shandee’s murder, one of Australia’s most respected DNA experts finds. After months examining the case for Shandee’s Story, forensic biologist Dr Kirsty Wright is convinced ... Show More

Dr Sheila Willis is a forensic scientist who was Director General of Forensic Science Ireland for many years.She has spent her life using science to help solve cases, working on crime scenes and then analysing material in the lab, and presenting scientific evidence in court.It’s ... Show More

Dr. Nancy Hopkins, a molecular biologist who made major discoveries in cancer genetics, became an unlikely activist in her early fifties. She had always believed that if you did great science, you would get the recognition you deserved. But after years of humiliations — being snu ... Show More

U.S. science is in turmoil. Amid agency firings and confusion over federal funding, researchers are freaking out. Many can’t do their work, and they have no idea what the future holds. Plus, we’re hearing that all of this could jeopardize medical treatments for people in the U.S. ... Show More

Krutika Kuppalli, a physician researcher who studies emerging infectious diseases, joined the World Health Organization in 2021, where she worked to combat the COVID-19 on a global level.She had previously been targeted by threats and harassment as a result of media and US congre ... Show More

Following the shocking revelations of bungling, secrecy and misconduct within Queensland’s DNA lab exposed in journalist Hedley Thomas’ podcast Shandee’s Story, a major royal commission-style inquiry into the fiasco gets underway in a Brisbane court, headed by retired judge Walte ... Show More

Recently, a group of world-leading scientists called for a halt on research to create ‘mirror life’ microbes amid concerns that the synthetic organisms would present an ‘unprecedented risk’ to life on Earth. Ian Sample tells Madeleine Finlay about why this work initially seemed e ... Show More

Dr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientists with science news, stories & analysis.